27th August 1998 Archive

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Samsung pumps $50 million into AST

Cash to pay off short term debts

Samsung has injected a further $50 million into AST US in an effort to improve its financial position. According to a statement issued by Samsung's corporate offices in Seoul, Korea, the money will offset short term debts AST US needs to repay. Last year, Samsung bought the remaining 54 per cent of AST it did not own for $170 …

Business 27 Aug 1998, 09:48
TI claims tiny chip breakthrough

Small is beautiful

Texas Instruments (TI) claimed it had made a breakthrough on chip technology by developing a method to create much smaller semiconductors. According to the company, over 400 million will fit on a chip the size of a human fingernail. They will support both analogue and digital technologies. The semiconductors will use a .07 …

Business 27 Aug 1998, 10:29
Row between Siemens Nixdorf and VESA takes on US dimension

Company granted US patent now

A further twist to the saga over Siemens Nixdorf's Powersave technology has emerged after the company announced it had been granted a US patent. Two months ago, industry association VESA sent out a letter to its members saying it was pulling parts of its monitor spec after it had failed to reach agreement with Siemens-Nixdorf. …

Business 27 Aug 1998, 11:07
TSMC claims rapid ramp in .25 micron process

Taiwanese manufacturer sees broad based support

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has claimed that it has moved to .25 micron process rapidly in response to customer demand. The company said that it now has fifteen products using the technology emerging from its Taiwanese fab, which will ramp to around 15,000 wafers a month. Those products cover CPUs, …

Business 27 Aug 1998, 11:49
Deloitte & Touche hunts for top 50 UK IT growth firms

VCs get the DTs

Accountancy firm Deloitte & Touche has launched nationwide awards scheme to find the fifty fastest growing UK technology companies. The Fast 50 programme aims to "highlight and reward" the fastest performing companies in the sector. The bad news for the winners is that they get a plaque and the opportunity to attend a conference …

Business 27 Aug 1998, 11:51
Solid Data turbo-charges RAID systems

benefits from DRAM drop

Cashing in on the plummeting DRAM market, Solid Data Systems, formerly Database Excelleration Systems, is releasing a line of SCSI-attached solid-state drives designed for I/O-intensive applications such as online transaction processing, Internet services and digital media. Gene Bowles, president of Solid Data said: "These are …

Business 27 Aug 1998, 12:03
Datrontech posts interim profits fall

Memory and components outlook unlikely to improve short term

Datrontech saw profits fall by 19 per cent for the six months to 5 July, as memory prices plummeted and its UK components business also performed below expectations. Memory sales at the distributor were 48 per cent down on the previous year, but the results were boosted by profitable networking, storage and service business. …

Business 27 Aug 1998, 12:31
Datrontech turns to commodity networks

New division aimed at PC builders

Datrontech is launching a new division, Datrontech Networking, to target the small and medium business market. This new section will be promoting network computing to the PC builder community and is intended to complement the higher end networking division, Data Connectivity. The new division aims to increase network competency …

Business 27 Aug 1998, 12:46
3M will go further in cuts

Imation must now be in the frame

The Minnesota, Mining and Manufacturing company -- 3M -- is to cut another 500 jobs by the end of the year. That could well put subsidiary Imation in the frame as a spun-off company. That is more than it predicted. It will now slash nearly 5,000 jobs by year end and will take a charge of nearly half a billion dollars to help cut …

Business 27 Aug 1998, 15:16
Cyrix links up with the channel

signs up 450 EMEA system builders

NatSemi sub Cyrix is to make it easier to communicate within the channel. The supplier has announced that more than 450 companies are now registered on its Cyrix Link programme, targeting system integrators in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Members get news updates from Cyrix in a fortnightly newsletter, technical …

Business 27 Aug 1998, 16:11
Microsoft engineers accused of dirty tricks

Caldera produces damning evidence

Investigations into Microsoft's alleged anti-competitiveness have taken an unexpected twist with allegations that the company's employees had considered a dirty tricks campaign in the battle against desktop operating systems rival DR-DOS. According to the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft engineers discussed inserting a software …

Business 27 Aug 1998, 16:17
RM Group continues education market dominance

Analysts tip RM

Educational reseller RM Group to continue its market dominance as the next academic year is set to begin, according to Dresdner Kleinwort Benson. The company's share have rise from just over 150 pence to nearly 400 pence in the last year on the back of speculation of government funding being directed its way. Mark Loveland, an …

Business 27 Aug 1998, 16:22
Outsourcing boosts Workplace margins

Profits up 30 per cent

Network integrator Workplace Technologies increased sales by 30 per cent, to £40 million, and profits by 33 per cent to £1.3 million for the six months to 30 June. A hike in gross margin from 21.7 per cent to 23.5 per cent fuelled the impressive results as it focused on high-margin network support business. Workplace …

Business 27 Aug 1998, 16:24
SAP software "hastened" company's demise

Bankruptcy trustee launches $500 million law-suit

SAP has been ambushed with a $500 million law suit from the bankruptcy trustees of drug distributor who allege the company's R3 software hastened the company's collapse. Bart A.Brown Jr., Chapter 7 trustee for FoxMeyer, accuses SAP of fraud, negligence and breach of contract. The trustee is claiming $500 million in compensation …

Business 27 Aug 1998, 16:30
Wafer yield to slow down AMD shipments

Company "frighteningly specific" about futures

AMD has warned that it may not be able to supply enough of its 350MHz K6-2 parts. The company formally announced the chip today and priced it at $317/1000. But in a statement which a source close to AMD described as "frighteningly specific", the company gave warnings about both production and distribution of the part. The …

Business 27 Aug 1998, 16:30
Oak completes Xerographics acquisition

Silicon for consumer DVD market

Storage company Oak has completed its acquisition of Xerographic Laser Images and at the same time announced a major win with Orion Electronics. Oak specialises in producing semiconductors which will bring DVD devices to the home market, selling its technology to OEMs which use the technology. Today it struck a deal to resell …

Business 27 Aug 1998, 16:32
NatWest launches online information service

But why's it called Zenda?

Nat West is launching an online information service, called Zenda, that will supply travel information, cinema ticket availability, weather reports and sports results to all users, and banking information for NatWest customers. If the service is launched on a national scale, NatWest says it will add features to Zenda so that it …

Business 27 Aug 1998, 16:35
Reseller trio pool international accounts into new company

Three hearts beat as one

ENTEX has sealed the knot with its European reseller partner Info'Products and Japanese partner Otsuka Shokai Company, creating a new entity called The Global Alliance Personal Computer Services, LLC. The three resellers will pool all their international business through the company, in which each member will hold equal shares. …

Business 27 Aug 1998, 21:22